India Books

British brothers Lawrence and Lorne Blair set out in the 1960s on a marvelous, thought-provoking, ten-year adventure through the 3,000-mile length of the remote Indonesian archipelago. Inspired by a dog-eared copy of Alfred Russell Wallace's The Malay Archipelago -and his nineteenth century voyage of scientific exploration and discovery--their unforgettable odyssey set sail out of the Celebes (Sulawesi) for the Spice Islands on a perilous schooner crossing with the seafaring Bugis. Tossed to and fro from home port Makassar to isolated Aru Island-stalked all the way by rotting ship beams and the specter of pirates-they were rewarded with one of the rarest sights on earth-the fluffy white plumage of the elusive Bird of Paradise.
Metaphysical, anthropological, and intellectual in tone-with a healthy dose of dry wit and humor-the Blairs take you along as they confront komodo dragons, chew betel nut in Sumba, witness a traditional Pasola battle, and herald the annual arrival on shore of the sacred nyale sea worms. Full of naive courage and boundless curiosity, they sought out Asmat headhunters/cannibals in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Undaunted, these dream wanderers went eye to eye with the fiery blast furnace of simmering Krakatoa. They commandeered a longboat upriver and trekked through the leech-ridden jungles of Borneo with native guides on an arduous land search for the secretive, traditional Punan hunter-gatherers. Ring of Fire chronicles their cultural encounters on Java as they visited the sultan's court (and sacred "kris" knife) and an acupuncturist who harnessed yin/yang energy to heal the sick with self-generated electric charges. Open-minded and non-judgmental about the diverse religions and customs they encountered, the Blairs became deeply enchanted by trance, and by the shadow screen nether world of the wayang kulit. Their travels took them back to Sulawesi for the funeral of the last king of Tanah Torajah-into a unique architectural-animist pocket where boat-shaped roofs rise out of the cool forest floor representing ancestral sky ships on their descent from heaven to earth.
The thrill-seeking, nomadic Blairs unexpectedly found themselves permanently landlocked and suspended-mind, soul, and body-in the island Shangrila that they discovered in Bali. An artist friend in Pengosekan-a vibrantly creative community of farmers and painters-invited them to build a new house on his land. In true, cooperative Balinese style, the brothers had only to pay for the necessary raw materials (bamboo, coconut wood, and elephant grass) and the religious celebration at the completion of the structure. The people of Pengosekan freely contributed their skilled labor and artistic expertise; this shared investment in and commitment to each other's dwellings works to further bind the village together. Sleeping and learning in their open-air platform obervatory perched high above the sculpted jade rice terraces, the Blair brothers came to call Bali their very own, lifelong island of the gods. They would return time and again-in between sometimes dangerous, always enlightening meetings with natural peoples along the equatorial frontier-to their permanent home base in Bali. It is here that they fell in love with one culture and one island out of the hundreds that they visited. Lawrence and Lorne fully explored their adopted pied à terre-from startling footage of the eruption of Mt. Agung in 1963, to the cremation of famous 116-year-old Balinese artist Lempoad, to the opulent funeral procession of the last rajah of Gianyar. (When Lorne died on his beloved Bali in 1996, he was cremated and his remains returned to the sea in accordance with Bali-Hindu religious rites.) Their amazing adventures (available in book or video format) are the stuff of storybook legends-from the hidden rainforest peoples of Borneo, to islands where magicians still hold sway, to the sun-speckled spiritual haven of heart-shaped Bali.

Goes beyond your usual "travel tale", it is a marvelous adventure and thought provoking regarding the natural peoples of the earth. The chapter on the Dream Wanderers of Borneo will open doors of perception for an alternative world view. The author writes with clarity and quite a lot of humor. The entire book is very personal in its tone and gives the feeling of actually having shared the experience of the amazing journey.

This book and the companion videos are near and dear to my heart. It kept my dreams of returning to Indonesia alive through a long a crippling illness. Lawrence and Lorne Blair were the adventurers I wanted to be. Openminded, good humored, and willing to try new things. This book kept me good company through some baaaad times. But there is far more to recommend this book than armchair travel lust. The writing is excellent, photography spectacular, and all in all a great story. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about Indonesia. I did finally get to go back and even explore a little. I'm forever grateful to the Blair brothers for this gift of a book!

An incredibly interesting tale and at times quite deep account of a 10-year joureny through the remotest islands in Indonesia. I wonder if the author is aware of how couragous he and his brother were to go to the places they went and meet such people as cannibals and headhunters and come back to tell the story! Not to mention the more subtle metaphysical comments here and there about the various religions they encountered and all of it presented with a very dry wit.

I was blown away by this book, as much by how spiritually aware it is and how well it was written. Wow! What an adventure!

At last : a truly low fat Indian Cookbook !

The recipes are really tasty. Have already tried a few. Mainly the kids can eat all the stuff we want them to like vegiies and meat without getting too much fat too early in life. The pictures tend to look a bit unreal. Want to know when the authors are doing a sequel with sweet dishes perhaps? Keep it up!

If you're going insane on a low sodium, low fat diet then get this book!! The recipes are flavorful and rich without the salt and fat of traditional Indian cooking. Some really innovative ways of adding flavor to food (like the fat free coconut milk recipe) had me questioning the recipes but everything I tried has come out absolutely perfect. Thanks so much ladies!!My taste buds are finding a new lease on life!!

I hate to cook, but I love Indian food & I love this book... the recipes are short, easy to read, & easy to understand. I like the "Suggested Accompaniments" that come with each recipe, & the dishes really do taste good. The missing fat was not replaced with a lot of sugar ... another plus!

Recipes are easy to understand; includes vegetarian and meat; a must if you want to stick to low-fat foods but have an interest in tast ethnic foods.

This book by Narendra Singh Sarila is a true eyeopener. Many commonly held beliefs about the history of the Indian subcontinent are disputed and in some cases heartily debunked. The author was the ADC to Mountbatten and thus comes with the imprimatur of "being on the scene".

I remember reading various sources like Wolpert wherein it was emphatically stated that Gandhi was always against partition. Well here Sarila reliably infers that at the end Gandhi thought partition was a necessary evil. Jinnah played the religion card to the hilt appealing to the lower angels of human nature via the fear route. Arguing that muslims would never get a fair shake in a Hindu Congress and nation Jinnah shrewdly played the fear card. Of course thirty million muslims who were not in the demarcated areas were left high and dry.

What is truly sad is the low opinion that Churchill had about Indians in general and Hindus in particular. Yes in those days it was quite common to view Indians as a cacaphony of peoples incapable of governing themselves, but Churchill's animosity seems to have been beyond the bounds of reason. Too bad because Churchill truly was the man of the hour during WW2 and helped save Western civilization. In my eyes the greatness of Churchill is tangibly abased by the vile alloy of racism.

Sarila recounts, in detail, the behind the scenes machinations of various players mostly to the detriment of a united India.

A sad commentary on a lamentable period of the Indian subcontinent. Highly recommended.

This book is a significant contribution to the understanding of the fateful events surrounding the independence and partition of India and the players involved. The book presents the events in a cogent manner with insightful analyses into the events and personalities. It is a must read for any student of Indian history and politics since it gives insight into the situations affecting the national security and political decisions made even today. We all have heard so much about the "Divide and rule" policy of English. The reader is able to witness that policy in action in this book.

Key features that one learns from this book are: i) the British determination to hold on to India as long as possible, and in the event that this becomes impossible, secure the northwestern portion of India to thwart any real or imagined Russian adventures, ii) The naivety of Indian National Congress leaders, especially Nehru, about the survival of an independent India in a predatory world, iii) the aging of Gandhi and weakening of his faculties and judgment in dealing with the changing political environment, iv) Even though Mountbatten contributed to bringing the princely states into the Union he also did double cross Nehru in dealing with Kashmir, and v) Hunger for power at any cost on the part of Jinnah who died regretting what he had done with his life.

The role that President Roosevelt played in pushing Churchill towards Indian independence and the US gesture to be the first country to send an ambassador to India is neither appreciated nor known among the India's polity nor did the historians pay much attention to the subject. Better management of the relationship with US early on might have paid dividends and the world history could have turned out to be totally different than what we have witnessed.

The author has to be specially commended for his assessment that Indian independence came not because the British had an enlightenment about egalitarianism or human rights but because the empire was economically not tenable any longer, and even more important, the events of the second World War and its conclusion created an environment in India where they could not even count on the loyalty of the Indian army any longer. The "awe" with which the ordinary Indian looked at the Englishman had ended. The bluff that worked for two hundred years stopped working.

The author worked from 1948 to 1985 in India's Foreign Service. He uses primary sources in this excellent book to show how from 1906 to 1947 the British state allied with Islamists to defeat India's majority-supported Congress Party.

The Aga Khan and some Bengal landlords founded the Muslim League in 1906 and at once petitioned Viceroy Minto to introduce separate Muslim electorates, a sure way to split a country. Lord and Lady Minto immediately welcomed this: she wrote that it would mean "Nothing less than the pulling back of 62 million people from joining the ranks of the seditious opposition."

Churchill too played the Muslim card, lying that the real problem lay in Hindu-Muslim differences about India's future and not in Britain's rulers' unwillingness to accept Indian independence. Viceroy Linlithgow forged an alliance with Jinnah's Muslim League Party. Linlithgow's successor Lord Wavell produced the 1946 blueprint giving the strategic prize of North-West India to Pakistan.

Jinnah called a `Direct Action Day' for 16 August 1946. The British governor of Bengal knew of the League's intention, yet the British brigadier in charge of law and order in Calcutta ordered his troops confined to barracks for the day. 5,000 people were killed. Wavell's blueprint was implemented when the British withdrew from India in 1947, even though it was kept secret to avoid any impression of a British hand in the division of India.

Sarila summarises, "Once the British realized that the Indian nationalists who would rule India after its independence would deny them military cooperation under a British Commonwealth defence umbrella, they settled for those willing to do so by using religion for the purpose. Their problem could be solved if Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League Party, would succeed in his plan to detach the northwest of India abutting Iran, Afghanistan and Sinkiang and establish a separate state there - Pakistan. The proposition was a realizable one as a working relationship had been established between the British authorities in India and Jinnah during the Second World War and he was willing to cooperate with Britain on defence matters if Pakistan was created."

Imperial policy was and is divide and rule - whether setting Muslim against Hindu in India, Bosnian Muslims against Serbs in Yugoslavia, Sunni against Shia across the Middle East, Protestant against Catholic in Ireland, or Scottish against English in Britain. As Sarila notes, "The successful use by the British to fulfil political and strategic objectives in India was replicated by the Americans in building up the Islamic jihadis in Afghanistan for the same purpose, of keeping the Soviets at bay."

An interesting and detailed analysis based on historical documents that sheds light on the british machinations to encourage, even engineer the partition. lots of other fascinating facts and details are brought to life as well.

The Partition of India is one of the great un-studied subjects of modern times, especially in light of the great ethnic-cleansing that it caused, it is suprising it is ignored and its refugees forgotten. This book however is not about these crimes but about the politics and also the prejudices that brought about partition. It mostly focuses on the British decision to assist Ali Jinnah and his attempts to form a Muslim state. The British had long supported Muslims in India, both as civil servants and administratively, allowing them to keep Shariah law while suppressing Hindu traditions.

As the Great Game ended in 1905 and world politics changed the British continued to cultivate loyal Muslims in India and used them to split India, eventually using them to create Pakistan, and using Pakistan against Soviet Russia, which would have reverberations in the 1980s and even today.

This is a very interesting and new point of view. Few authors have tackled the subject of British pro-Islamic politics in their colonies and this is an important contribution.

Seth J. Frantzman

Eruch tells Baba stories in a way that makes you feel like you were there. Eruch talks about his personal experiences from living with Baba. If you love Baba stories this is the book. I have many Baba books but this is one of my favorites. I also recommend Ivy Duce book on How a Master works also has good Baba stories.

Eruch tells Baba stories in a way that makes you feel like you were there. Eruch talks about his personal experiences from living with Baba. If you love Baba stories this is the book. I have many Baba books but this is one of my favorites. I also recommend Ivy Duce book on How a Master Works. It also is well written with good Baba stories.

I had been wondering on my journey for about 1 1/2 years and did not understand why certain things were happening to me. I knew there was a purpose but I did not know what it was. I had read Meher Baba's "Discourses" and it helped me but not enough. Then I read Eruch's book and I could relate to almost every story he told; it was almost like a veil of ignorance about these matters being lifted and gaining new insights into what had been dark areas before. Thanks, Eruch for writing this book. Another book which I read subsequently was Meher Baba's "God Speaks". This is a book difficult to read but perseverance pays off handsomely in the end. God Speaks was a milestone steeping stone for me in getting a glimpse of what the path to God Realization is about.

This is a cool book. It has a lot of stories about Meher Baba which can greatly inspire you. Eruch Jessawala is one of the best storytellers I've ever come across. Reading these stories is like sitting in Meherabad on a saturday morning. Spectacular.
Jai Baba!

I considered Eruch my teacher. I had a lot of personal contact with him off and on over a twenty year period. And many of these wonderful stories I heard him tell personally, and often he might tell these stories a little differently depending on who was near to him that day. That is, I found Eruch to be a unique, royal gentlemen around women and children, and with a wordly one like me, he could charm and enchant and surprize on all levels, as the perfect teacher should be able to do.

Eruch most help me deepen my faith in God to where I began to experience God was a absolute certainty. And to an -- at times as I was -- agnostic, this was a remarkably welcomed, magnificent process.

I was able to walk, often just he and I, literally hundreds of miles with Eruch in the early morning (over a period of 10 years), in the beautiful countryside of Western India, near Meherazad where he had lived with Meher Baba for most of his life. And he was a tremendous ingredient with my Hafiz work; I would say he was the impetus behind it and many poems he directly helped me with, even offering very specific word changes at times. And this man was the person who had the most physical contact with Meher Baba of anyone on earth; he most often spoke for Baba as Meher Baba had been silent the last 40 years of His life. And Baba very directly says of Himself: He is the Christ, the Buddha, the Prophet come again. What is one to do when faced with such an EXTRAORDINARY claim?

This book would help any, tremendously, in chipping away at such a claim, if they have an interest to do so. I have been exploring that "claim" myself, now, for over 30 years. And one of the still evolving conclusions I have come up with is this: I do believe in God, a God of Infinite Power, and thus a God who could easily appear on this planet as Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha and Jesus -- as the Avatar, that is, as the descent of God in human form. And as to if Meher Baba is that -- God in human form: Well... I feel that history over the millenniums votes in their Prophets, their Buddhas, their Christs, their Rams, their Krishnas -- by some sacred means that takes place in the most discerning (intuitive as it may be for most) regions of the heart and soul. How could I really cast an objective vote about this after investing a big part of my life in the search for Truth that so entwined me with Meher Bada and many of His close disciples. Is Meher Baba the embodiment of the Divine - "The Being of all beings," the Root of all consciousness and space and form?

My vote is: Yep. I think the Big -- Gigantic -- Bang happened again on earth.

Daniel Ladinsky
Bestselling Penguin author of the anthololy: "Love Poems from God", and "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz."

I bought this fantastic little guide in a bookstore in Kathmandu. I used it during my trek around Annapurna and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Much better than the LP guide, and small enough that it doesn't get in the way.

This is definitely the best guidebook to carry while trekking in the Annapurna region: loads of maps with most of the teahouses labeled, accurate times for both directions, interesting cultural information, small so as to make it more portable, and fairly up to date. I used it in November 2007, so there are some changes as one would expect, but still is excellent. Highly recommend!

I found the information in the book was great help. The maps together with the estimated timings were particularly helpful in deciding the route to take.

In addition to the treks Bryn Thomas also gives useful information on places to stay.

We used the book when treking from Jomsom to Pokhara and it was invaluable.

This guide is all you need for the Annapurna. Beats the pants off Lonely Planet. Great maps, highlights, places to stay, etc.; small and lightweight; good gear list for preparing, info on when to go; bits on Kathmandu and Pokhara. We hiked the entire circuit and used Bryn several times each day.

I did the Annapurna Circuit trek (Around Annapurna) last September with this book. I was my bible.
The book has very good chapters about Nepal in general, Kathmandu and Pokhara but it's strength lies in the trail maps and text.
The maps are very very detailed (you can't get lost...), they indicate where is the next steep climbing and how much time does it takes to the next village. In the text you can find recommendations for eating and lodging (that never miss...).
The book covers all the popular treks in the Annapurna region but also offer side treks for more adventrous trekkers.

The bottom line : Worth every Penny!

Nithyananda has done it again in this book. Great answers from the word go. Never need to buy any other book if you have any questions related to our everyday life.

I have read Uncommon Answers To Common Questions. The book is written in a question and answer format. Paramahamsa Nithyananda lucidly answers questions posed by devotees who have started their spiritual journey. He provides candid answers to common questions in a modern context. A must read for those interested in answers to common questions that hold us from starting our journey of personal transformation.

Much like "Open the door and let the breeze in!", this book is a great place to start for those on a spiritual path or just wanting to know more about Sri Nithyananda. There's a lot of information that is easy to read.

The cover of the book - the title and the photograph of Sri Nithyananda - was what attracted me to the book.

I started browsing it and was soon immersed.

I found that many of my questions are answered here in a simple and lucid style. The issues covered are those that are faced by every one of us - ranging from relationships to our quest for happiness.

The simplicity in the style, the lucid explanations, the stories and examples, belie the deep wisdom and insight behind many of these answers. Many of these answers provide a new perspective, a clearer way of looking at the same problem. I can say that some of these answers really shook me up - 'Why didnt I think of that before?'

I had read that just the very words of an Enlightened Master can cut through our doubts and liberate us of our mental conditionings. This book made it an experience for me.

This book is a tremendous tool for anyone - whether a spiritual seeker or otherwise - just because it addresses our need to be joyful here and now, whatever we do in our lives.

This book will start you on your journey of personal transformation. Good luck!

I was very apprehensive when I bought this book, honestly ! But the title seemed inviting and I thought...hey what the heck..its just 18 bucks.

The books is every penny spent. I did not realize that such simple concepts can actually transform one so easily. Well, its a journey of smiles and tears that one goes through and the book shows how easily one can just witness the whole drama and not drown in our self made troubles of emotions.

Nithyananda has an excellent way of describing things. I am simply amazed at his style of simplicity.

If you want to start reading something that would bring a smile on your face and feel "ah... so simple, let me try implementing this...", this is the book not to be missed.

This book is a great source for anyone interested in Buddhism. The chapters are well organized and all terminology is explained thoroughly. The author is great about using examples that everyone can comprehend without going off on tangents that detract from the material.

In this excellent and very readable book, Dr. Corless (a professor of religion at Duke University) uses the life of the Buddha as a framework for introducing the major concepts of Buddhism to a general readership. He accurately and concisely covers the major ideas of South, Central ane East Asian Buddhism and shows a fine respect for all of them. Zen, Theravadin Buddhism, Chinese Pure Land and Tibetan Vajrayana are all well represented and put into perspective. Despite its broad scope, this is an easy to read and inspiring, as well as informative, book. The author has mastered the art of speaking to those of us who are neither scholars nor specialists. "The Vision of Buddhism" does not go over our heads, and Dr. Corless never talks down to us. I highly recommend it.

I bought this book after I met Prof. Corless in an United Religion Initiative conference. He's a very witty guy with a sharp observation. This book demonstrates these qualities.

This book is amazingly comprehensive yet easy to read. I was glued to the book right after I received it. Prof. Corless structures and explaines complex Buddhist ideas in an easy and fascinating way. Definitely one of the best introduction to Buddhism because, very early in the book, he points out common mistakes Westerners make when approaching Buddhism. Since most people are influenced by mainstream Christianity, they analyze Buddhism with the wrong methodology.

Along reading the book, you will pickup small funny stories from him. His personality shines through this book.

This book is indeed one of the best introductions to Buddhism one can possibly read. Corless applies his own experience with the religion, to all of the teachings he presents in the book. Keep in mind that a lot of what is included here is explanations of the Buddhist idealogy, not anything that you can really practice.

Use this book as more of a factor in deciding if Buddhism is the right religion for you. Corless even takes the time to write some excellent footnotes, so you could even consider this book for research.

I think the reason this book worked so well for me was the fact that it was presented in such a non-threatening way that it makes the book easy to absorb. Keep in mind that careful reading is important, as a lot of chapters reference previous chapters. This is not a determent to the quality of the book, rather it is important to the building block style of teaching Buddhism that the book represents.

Buy this book as a great introduction if you have even the slightest interest in the Buddhist vision. You won't be disappointed.

I've probably read 1000 books on buddhism, and Corless' book still gave me new insights and new ways of looking at the Dharma. *THE* book I recommed to friends who ask "How can I learn something about Buddhism."

I read this book and was blown away. Incredible stories, unbelievable, awe inspiring to say the least. This book describles stories of very sick people trying urine fasts, as a last resort, after years of traditional medical treatment and healing whatever ails them. I would also recommend "Your own perfect medicine" by Martha Christy and "the golden fountain" by coen van der kroon, two books I also read about urine therapy. I have done a few urine fasts and they really work to help you lose weight and junk in your body.

The universe keeps gifting us with blessings and we often miss them. Our education or culturization gets in the way. I really think the best things in life are free. The Water of Life by John Armstrong is a beginning, an opening door, that will hopefully change opinions. The cases presented are not only interesting they are convincing. My biggest complaint, is that there are not enough specifics for implementing. e.g. For application to the head/hair. How long should it remain on the hair. Should the hair then be shampooed, or just rinsed?

My fear has flown out the window, I'm convinced. Very easy to read guidelines for applying urine therapies, with testimonials.

It's very useful both for ill people but also for the others !
I recommend it !
Thanks !

THE WATER OF LIFE : A Treatise on Urine Therapy by John W. Armstrong. Saffron Walden, Essex : The C. W. Daniel Co.Ltd., 2nd Edition 1971, Twelfth Impression, 1998.

Since its first publication in 1945, 'The Water of Life' has achieved something of the status of a classic. Having just finished reading it, I can understand why. Armstrong, who was a British naturopath, was a very modest man who never intended to write his book. But after repeated requests, and after considering that he had a duty to his fellow men and women to reveal the details of the miraculous therapy he had discovered, he went ahead, and we should all be intensely thankful that he did. The book is a goldmine of good sense, practical advice, brief though fascinating case studies, and astute observations on a wide range of matters.

His discovery - or perhaps rediscovery is a better word, since urine therapy was and is known and practised in many cultures and is even known to the animals - came about in a curious way. As a young man he suffered from consumption, had been passed through the hands of a whole slew of orthodox medical practitioners, none of whom had been able to cure him, and some of whom made his condition worse.

But he seems to have been a religious man, and one day, while pondering Proverbs V.xv : "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well," he had a flash of inspiration which led him to link this passage with a few tales he'd heard about the curative properties of urine. Could this reference to "waters," he wondered, be a reference to the body's own water - urine? Having nothing to lose, he decided to give it a try.

He began drinking his own urine, was restored to health, and went on to lead a vigorous and productive life by helping to restore the health of many others, both human and animal. Incidentally, one of the interesting features of his book, which indicates something of his kindly and unselfish nature, is that he has included a Chapter XVI 'Urine-Therapy on Animals.'

In 'The Water of Life' he has provided details of the threefold 'urine fast' method he worked out, details which will be found enough to go on by mature adults of average intelligence who have a bit of common sense.

The most important point to understand, which he emphasizes throughout, is that one should NEVER attempt to use or ingest any substance other than urine and pure water - whether chemicals, drugs, alcohol, denatured foods, etc., - when undergoing a urine fast or 'penance' as he liked to call it.

The whole idea is to allow NATURE to take her course with as little interference from us as possible. A fast of urine and pure water, plus frequent, lengthy, and thorough urine massages, and, if necessary, the application of urine compresses, would, he felt, cure pretty well anyone of almost anything if undertaken long enough for the body to rid itself of toxins.

Armstrong's 'The Water of Life' is a very rich book, crammed with fascinating and useful information, and interwoven with brief case histories of almost every conceivable ailment. I couldnt even begin to do justice here to the wealth of ideas it contains.

Four books on urine therapy are currently available : those of Armstrong, Martha Christy, Coen van der Kroon, and Flora Peschek-Bohmer. Of these, the Peschek-Bohmer may be ignored as being both superficial and highly misleading on essential matters. The remaining three all serve to complement each other in different ways, with one providing what the other lacks or hasn't gone into as fully.

The serious practitioner would be unwise to overlook Armstrong. True, his is an early book and we know more about the actual constituents of urine and how it does its work today. But he was a unique character, and in his own way he was a very wise man, and I think he will always have a lot to teach us all.

Vaswani's creative honesty and descriptive genius make these sojourns memorable. Like dreams one cannot forget, the residual allegorical power of the situations you experience linger on long after all the pages have been turned. From stark reality to the fantastic, Vaswani's range touches on various levels of human existence - the mundane to the spiritual. Waiting for more.

Readers who love the short story will enjoy discovering this exciting young writer. The stories have a wide range - magical realism with roots in (East)Indian mythology, funny and realistic depictions of the tensions, misunderstandings, and strong ties within intergenerational Indian immigrant families - but all are almost compulsively readable. The pages fly by, and you will find yourself laughing out loud. Resonant with some of your favorite Indian authors, but an authentically new and hard to categorize American voice.

What separates this book from the pack and makes it a must-read is the multifaceted power of the writing. Vaswani is functioning on a literary level, eschewing easy plotlines and trite constructions, and yet the reader gets soundly pulled into each and every story in the same tidal way children sit rapt at the unfolding of a fable. Vaswani follows the truth of the human heart, regardless of the borders it may cross or the many ways it may find to love.
Many of the stories have land-mine lines or images that--spearing out from the artfully crafted exposition or the colossally detailed exposures of character--bury themselves hilt-deep in the reader: a passing reference to a lumpectomy, an innocent question about the demonic nature of higher education. It is moments like these that had me placing the book back on top of the pile when I was done, ready to read it again almost immediately.

Anyone who appreciates the economy and power of the short story form should buy and read this book which is astonishing in its historical, cultural, geographic and stylistic range. Many of the stories, but especially the first two, are an eerie blend of myth and modernity. The reader must speculate on how much they were adaptations from what the author, whose parents are Indian and Irish, read or heard as a child and how much they were creatures of her own wondrously bizarre imagination. Modern stories, except those intended for children, are rarely animistic. These are feistily complex fables for adults who understand the continuum between humans and the rest of the sentient world. "Twang (Release)" has to be one of the zaniest and zenniest titles for a short story (or long, complex dream) ever invented. I found a word I'd never seen before --"marcelled". Are these marshalled waves, or marceauvian waves that mime movement as Vaswani's narrative mimes the crazed logic of fantasy? "The Excrement Man" is as rich in incongruity as the others; the core story is more linear than the first two, although it too has many hallucinatory gambols and gambles. "Sita and Mrs Durbar" is a sad but lovely piece, more manic in subject than style. "Five Objects in Queens" is a suite of vignettes with a common cast, chronological structure, and disconcerting counterpoint -- foreboding continuum under light motifs. I imagine that these Queens stories are more autobiographical than the others, if only for the direct Irish Indian references, but they may be just more miracles of Vaswani's endlessly fertile imagination. "Bing-Chen" offers other ethnically diverse insights, notably the sweet wistful lust of a self-conscious Asian boy who watches prom girls being shorn, before his own hair mixes on the floor with theirs. "Domestication of an Imaginary Goat" is a tour-de-force unraveling of a relationship, interwoven with nostalgic yearning for ways of life lost to political and migratory vagaries. "The Rigors of Dance Lessons" half as long as the other stories in this collection, and even more, well, rigorous, recounts an intense flamenco session, ineptness, disdain and reconciliation. Vaswani's cultural range is especially impressive in another Iberian piece, "Bolero,"which draws together the Basque ethonological landscape and vivid musical metaphors. One could quarrel with Bernstein's equivalency, cited here, between movement and sentence. Why is not the musical movement equivalent to a chapter or to a multi-themed, multiple layered Vaswani story? "The Pelvis Series" takes us into yet other areas of expertise, to paleontology and primate research, and an engaging character, Lola Bonobo, blurring the boundaries of what is human. "An Outline of No Direction" is a clever, telegraphic exercise in subjective geography: four parts follow cardinal directions, disintegrating our vast country; the fifth part is a pebbly reintegration. Vaswani transcends this surface structure with the language and density of reported incident. The last piece "Blue Without Sorrow" is another mysterious migration-and-myth, life-and-death story, marrying (somehow) Mexico and India, peasants and peanuts and literary escapes.

This is Neela Vaswani's first book, but her unique voice is already beyond "enormously promising." I can't recommend it highly enough and I just can't wait for her second.

A fireworks display of language and form: this is a stunning debut!

I liked this book for several reasons: it provided a chronological overview; explained the meaning of the Indian ritual; showed the logic behind the architecture of the Hindu temple; showed the importance of the mirroring of the outer into the inner in Indian thought. I believe I understand the esoteric aspects of Vedic spirituality much better after reading this book. I found it very enjoyable!

I liked this book because it is off the beaten track in highlighting the essentials of Indian civilization. It is a small book, but full of surprising insights.

Enjoying reading this panoramic introduction to India and her spiritual heritage!

In this essay Kak covers all the fundamental facets of the Indic tradition. He sheads light on previously misconcieved notions of the European view of India. A must read for any Indian. An enriching educational experience! The book was based off of lectures I saw @ Stanford.

'Subhash Kak presents what is arguably the most complete, articulate and up-to-date overview on the entire Indic tradition. More notably, he speaks not from a dry academic standpoint but from one in contact with the very soul and spirit of the culture. His panoramic view covers spirituality, science, linguistics and history, making clear India's important role in world civilization past, present and future. He dispels the many current distortions and misinterpretations of India, the cobwebs of colonial and Eurocentric thinking, and reveals her vast civilization in its true light. Everyone interested in India and in human civilization will be fascinated and transformed by his many-sided insights. They will never look at India again in the same way.' This is how David Frawley describes the book and I believe that is a fair assessment. The book is based on lectures at Stanford and California universities.